1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a column-mounted gear selector mechanism for an automatic transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of a prior art column-mounted gear selector mechanism for an automatic transmission is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Provisional Publication No. 48-25421 and also shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The gear selector mechanism 10 includes a compression rod 12 disposed in parallel relation to a steering column assembly 14 and operatively connected at the lower end thereof to an interlocking device. The compression rod 12 is reciprocatively movably received within a shift tube 16 which is rotataly supported on a steering column assembly 14. The shift tube 16 is operatively connected to a control cable 18 of an automatic transmission by way of a linkage 20 and rotatable about its axis for shift of gear. A gear shift lever 22 is disposed adjacent to a steering wheel 24 and operatively connected to the upper end of the compression rod 12. A wiper control lever 26 is disposed between the steering wheel 24 and the gear shift lever 22 and installed on the upper end of the steering column assembly 14.
As shown in FIG. 3, the gear shift lever 22 includes a first lever section 28 pivotally connected at one end 28a to the upper end 12a of the compression rod 12 and pivotally installed at the other end 28b on a pivot pin 30 which is in turn installed on the shift tube 20 so as to be swingable between the solid line position and the two-dot chain line position while allowing the compression rod 12 to reciprocate upwardly and downwardly. The gear shift lever 22 further has a second lever section 32 in line with the first lever section 28. The second lever section 32 is integrally attached at one end 32a to the other end 28b of the first lever section 28 and has fixedly installed at the other end 28b a knob 34 disposed adjacent to the wiper control lever 26.
With the above structure, shift of gear is attained by first pushing the compression rod 12 downwardly to unlock the interlocking device and then rotating the shift tube 16. Such movements of the compression rod 12 and shift tube 16 are attained by first turning the gear shift lever 22 about the pivot 30 toward the steering wheel 24 and then turning the same about the axis of the shift tube 16.
With such a prior art gear selector mechanism 10, a considerable space is required between the gear shift lever 22 and the wiper control lever 26 so that one of them does not become an obstacle of the other in use. The necessity of such a space inevitably results in an increased design and layout restriction of the gear selector mechanism.